< Previous© May 2017 The Meath Coaster30show was outstanding. We are very proud of the girls from East Meath, a number of whom had central roles in the cast; Alice Morgan, Lauren Murphy, Sidney Stereo, Anna Sowray, Meadhbh O Sullivan and Isabelle Martin, to name but a few.A warm thanks to the many families from the area who hosted students from our sis-ter school Loreto Ballarat in Australia as they stopped off to visit our school as part of a European tour.Finally the school welcomed Regina Do-herty and Darragh O Brien to talk to the students about empowering themselves by becoming more aware of and engaged in politics and community initiatives. §Loreto Balbriggan students welcome students from Loreto Ballarat, Australia Leads in the Musical ‘Beauty and the Beast’Loreto School BalbrigganLoreto Secondary School Balbriggan was 160 years old on Easter Sunday. It is with great pride that the school com-munity recognised this landmark date. The long Loreto tradition of educating young women in the pursuit of excel-lence for the service of others is firmly established on the east coast and will continue to grow and flourish for many years to come.Speaking of excellence we have to men-tion the resounding success of the annual Transition Year Musical which ran from the 3rd to the 7th April. The students pre-formed Beauty and the Beast to a full house every night. Every aspect of the © May 2017 The Meath Coaster31Drogheda Grammar NewsWorld famous scientist will speak at Prize DayWe are pleased to announce that Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the world famous astrophysicist, widely ac-knowledged to have made one of the greatest astronomical discoveries of the 20th century when she detected the first radio pulsar, a kind of neutron star, will be our guest speaker at our annual prize day ceremony on the 19th May this year. We are delighted this inspirational person, scientist, poet and Quaker will attend and pass on some words of wisdom to our stu-dents. Anyone who wishes to attend and hear this inspirational speaker please con-tact the school office for further details. One Good IdeaKaan Mese, Anita Adu, Michelle Davies, Alexis Pechon and Isabele Salerno have progressed through the regional finals to represent Drogheda Grammar School in the national finals of the SEAI “One Good Idea” competition on May 16th In Croke Park. Their campaign “Take Ten “ was one of only 14 Second level schools to reach the finals in Ireland. They have already secured €250 worth of materials for their school and we wish them the very best of luck in the national finals as they represent the school. RugbyWell done to the TY sevens who won the Louth TY sevens tournament recently and also to Stephen Aransiola and Barry Akanni who represented the school on the Louth team which won their division. Also congratulations to Alex Holden, Luke O’Callaghan, and Ryan Nolan who won the Leinster rugby future stars awards recently. AthleticsCongratulations to all the athletes who represented the school recently in the North Leinster School championship in Santry. In particular well done to Simon Staunton for reaching the final of the 80m hurdles and just missing out on a medal, and to Callum Sterio and Raphael John-son ran well in their sprints. BasketballHard luck to our first year girls basketball team were beaten in semi finals by St Clare’s College Ballyjamesduff Score 12-16.HockeyOur schools Hockey teams travelled to Bel-fast to watch Ireland V Italy hockey match. It was a fantastic day and students had an opportunity to meet and greet players. © May 2017 The Meath Coaster32Avoiding Slow Performance #2Part one of this article can be found at the blog links at the bottom of this page.Laptop/Desktops Performance Issues#2 Full or nearly full hard disk drive (not as common as you might imagine)One of the common myths floating about computers is the “full” hard drive problem.I rarely see this problem apart from those customers who are movie download junk-ies and insist on keeping all 6 series of “The Walking Dead” on their hard drive. (not sure if there were more but anyway). Modern computers, excluding brand new models, were equipped with large hard drives and if you are getting messages about your hard drive been full it should be investigated but it is rarely a case of the drive being full. More commonly, the customer has downloaded one of the rub-bish “speedup” apps that are epidemic on the internet. If I had a euro for every time I came across one of those apps I’d not be writing this article from Bettystown.I love good apps that help keep your sys-tem in tune and organized but I can assure you it is unlikely you know the names of them as they are not bandied about on every site you browse. If you suspect you actually have this hard drive full is-sue seek professional assistance from a real live qualified technician and avoid so called “free” system cleanup apps. You might also want to avoid wannabe experts although I am shooting myself in the foot telling you that as the aforementioned “experts” generate a good deal of work for me fixing their repairs.#3 Overloading the device with too many memory resident apps.This particular problem is very, very com-mon and is usually not the fault of computer users. In case you are in any doubt the aim of some many apps is to always be active on your computer and where possible to drive or direct you to specific web pages when you do some browsing. Commonly called junkware or spyware they are not produced by some random teenage computer whiz but by corporations in the business of generat-ing advertising revenue from their sponsors. They are paid on the number of visitors vis-iting their clients websites and you may be a victim of this apps. Other offenders in this category include Microsoft and Google both of home pro-duce apps that stay resident for somewhat legitimate reasons but in reality could be a lot less memory hungry. Promising ben-efits to you in return for eating your pre-cious memory resources I personally find the trade off not worth it. Amongst the specific apps are Google desktop and Mi-crosoft Skype. How often do you get an unscheduled call on Skype? As it’s rare I usually shut it down. Whatsapp and other voice apps on smartphones have mostly superseded Skype in most cases so con-sider getting rid of it if you don’t use it. § Oliver Reidy is a computer technician and has been in the industry since 1981.You can contact him via email at help.desk@reidyonline.com or at the telephone num-bers listed on this page. This article, and all previous articles, are available to view online at http://reidyonline.blogspot.ie/ or www.reidyonline.com/blogspot.htm COMPUTER CLASSESContact Oliver 041.988.7526 087.797.0740Classes CoveringSmart phones TabletsDesktops/LaptopsCLASSES STARTING MAY 2017 © May 2017 The Meath Coaster33Silk Plaster Now AvailableInterior designers have a number of op-tions when it comes to choosing mate-rials for their projects. Paint, wallpaper, stucco, tiles and other features can all be combined along with different patterns and colours to make beautiful, effective rooms. One overlooked material has been growing in popularity for a while and is now available on the Meath Coast: Silk Plaster a versatile 'liquid wallpaper' that can be used to make your next interior de-sign project truly unique.The origins of Silk Plaster date back to Russia where it was invented in 1997. Since then, it’s use has spread world-wide including Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Canada, Australia and now East Meath. One of the many advantages of Silk Plaster liquid wall covering is that you will never need to clean it. It also doesn’t absorb dust! By the way, Silk Plaster liquid wall covering is not only ecological but is 100% natural, with zero VOC (green product) and hypoallergenic properties. Silk Plaster is manufactured from natural fibre’s including silk, cot-ton, cellulose, mineral compounds, col-oured quartz and other natural decorative additives. The bonding agent is a cellu-lose-based adhesive. All components are natural and ecological, which makes Silk Plaster healthy and safe for residential and commercial properties.Numerous reviews of Silk Plaster liquid wallpaper point to other advantages. Be-cause of its colour fastness this decorative liquid wall coating does not fade under ultraviolet light. The elasticity of our silk liquid decorative plaster is particularly suitable in new homes because it does not shrink. Silk Plaster liquid wallpaper meets the current standards of fire safety and has been also granted with a CE mark, con-firming that it is produced according to European standards of quality. "Silk Plaster” liquid wall covering is a simple and cost effective way to add fla-vour, style and unique texture to a fea-ture wall, chimney-breast, alcoves or just about anywhere in your house. It is the ideal alternative to painting or covering your walls with wallpaper and comes in a great variety of beautiful colours and subtle textures to give a seamless designer finish. The unique grain and silky compo-nents help create high impact finishes to give any space a beautiful appearance and unique feel. When applied it can easily hide deep grooves as well as cracks, dents and any other surface imperfections. The absence of joints eliminates the need to match an image, which is the problem of ordinary wallpapers. This is one of the reasons why Silk Plaster liquid wallpaper gets such great reviews. Silk Plaster wall covering materials are flexible, have ad-ditional acoustic and thermal insulation properties too. With so many colours to choose from, Silk Plaster liquid wall cov-erings will allow you to combine them with any interior. Additionally depending on taste, “Gold or Silver glitters” in the form of small dots or thin filaments will add the solemnity and luxurious looking to the walls and create very expensive in-terior but per small investments. §SILKPLASTERWall Covering Material for Interior Design083 877 0274© May 2017 The Meath Coaster34Please mention The Meath Coaster when replying to advertisementsTHE VIEW FROM THE KITCHEN TABLE, By Geraldine HughesWhat’s in a name? According to the central statistics office, some names have fallen off the charts altogether while other more old fashioned names have re-surfaced. I’m not really fond of my own to be hon-est. My poor deluded mother thought that I’d be her fourth and last child (there were two more to come) and hoping I’d be a boy, decided to call me after my Dad, whose name was Gerard Francis. Just to be contrary, I was a girl (the next two were boys - they could’ve handled it) but not to be swayed, my mother called me Geral-dine Frances. Why I’ll never know! My Dad had a pathological hatred of fam-ily names, coming from a family where every second boy was called Thomas. They were distinguished only by being called Big Tom, little Tom, tom’s son, Thomas, Tommy. It drove him insane. He was always known as Ger, so I got my full title - Geraldine which is a bit a bit of a mouthful. The first time I met a Dena, I was mad jealous. Why didn’t my family ever shorten mine to that? It was so much prettier and femi-nine than Geri. I think I just don’t like that for me, it contours up a picture of an immensely capable woman. One who could rear a fam-ily of ten, a couple of dogs, a flock of sheep, a herd of cattle, looks ruddy, is built Oasis Childcare Centre Mornington, Co. Meath Crèche, ECCE, Montessori Playgroup, After School Contact: 041-9888135 Now enrolling for Summer Camp & Sept 2017 Classes SPECIAL OFFERS Early booking advisable! East Meath’s Leading Childcare Provider for 12 Years www.oasischildcarecentre.com ONE CHILD ONE LIFE ONE PRE-SCHOOL EXPERIENCE Since 2005 our loyal repeat customers & 100% occupancy tells you that we deliver the highest quality, affordable childcare in the East Meath area. We are family run and not part of a chain. Enrol with us and make sure your precious child gets the best! like a power lifter, and drives a Massey Ferguson. None of that is exactly negative (except for the ruddy bit) but it’s not how I’d really want to sound to people. I meet very few Geraldine’s but those that I have definitely possess some of those qualities. When I met a petite, blonde Doctor shar-ing my name, I thought I had met the ex-ception to the rule until she squashed my hand in a manly handshake and slapped me on the back declaring that we were ‘of an era’. Mr. The View says what about Geri Hali-well? She is pretty and girly, but more than a tiny bit bonkers so I’m not sure if it helps my case. In fact it’s been years since my name was even registered, and at a wedding in France about ten years ago, they marvelled at my name while shaking their heads in a pitying way. Only very old ladies are called Geraldine there. The name has been defunct for nearly a century. It translates as Spear carrier, so even the first Ger-aldine’s were consigned to the workhorse division, while the Isobel’s and Titania’s were transported in girly comfort. I mean its Spear carrier – not Spear Chucker which at least would mean I had a bit of power and was to be feared a little and respect-ed – nope – just a carrier, so if I fell flat on my face in the mud, they would just tut, pick up the spears and give them to someone else to carry. I suppose it’s too late to change it now, I’ll just have to carry on carrying spears and being capable. . §HOUSEHOLD SERVICESPlease mention The Meath Coaster when replying to advertisementsBG PAINTING & DECORATINGInterIor & exterIor25 YEARS EXPERIENCE REFERENCES AVAILABLEFREE CONSULTATIONS & ESTIMATESWALLPAPER ALSO AVAILABLEContact Brian 086 7308449GAS BOILER SERVICESANNUAL SERVICINGREPAIRS & BREAKDOWNSBOILER REPLACEMENTSSAFETY INSPECTIONSBORD GÁIS AUTHORISED SERVICE PROVIDERPhone Terry 041 9827870 - 087 2941224 6th class team6th classPB - CleanbrightRoof Moss Removal SpecialistWe also clean: DrivewaysPatio’sGuttersFasciaPVC WindowsMob: 083 191 0238Mob: 083 1992 085Office: 041 9883792Email: pbcleanbright@gmail.com*Fully InsuredRoof is treated by AlgoClear to prevent moss re-occurrenceCall Nicky - 041 9887128 087 7734344 A Local BusinessCosmic Cleanwww.cosmicclean.ieT&Cs & Minimum Charge appliesMAJOR DISCOUNTS for Multiple RoomsRug Collection & Delivery Service AvailableProfessional Carpet & Upholstery CleaningSPECIAL OFFER!Noel SavageElectrical Services20 Years Experience • Security LightingFuseboard Upgrades • Rewires, Extra Sockets • Lights, Fully Insured and RegisteredNo Job Too SmallBettystown, Co. MeathMobile: 086 2518898HEDGE TRIMMING & TREE SURGERYTrimmed or Removed incl. root destruction and removal. Stump GrindingPLANTING, WEEDING, FENCING, TREE & HEDGE CUTTING & SHAPING.All green waste removedDriveway, Patio, Power-washed Gutter cleaningSpecial OAP RatesFree Estimates, Fully Insured, Long Experience4 SEASONS GARDEN SERVICESContact Jim 085 1163631-042 6822585No Job Too Big or Too SmallGrant Electrical96 Betaghstown Wood, BettystownPhone: 041 988 6908Mobile: 087 275 4057• Electrical Installation and Maintenance• Extra Sockets & Lighting• Electrical Shower Installed & Repairs• Immersion Heater Installed & Fitted• Free Estimates NO JOB TOO SMALL!Moloney Boiler MaintenanceBarry Moloney - Heating Engineer• Oil Boilers Services and Repairs• Aga Cookers• Central Heating Power Flush• Installation of Central Heating Filters• All Aspects of Heating & Plumbing - Commercial / ResidentialFree Quotations, All Work GuaranteedMobile: 087 3337488barry@moloneyboilermaintenance.ie © May 2017 The Meath Coaster36Drumgoole Financial Services is regulated by The Central Bank of IrelandGetting Mortgage-Ready!Applying for a mortgage can be a detailed and time-consuming process. The bank is eager to see that you can afford to take on a mortgage repayment and still have enough money left each month to enjoy your new home. To help you prepare for this process we have compiled a checklist to ensure that your application is successful. Your income - lenders will look at your annual income and some may take bo-nuses or overtime into account. Some lenders may factor in rental income if you plan to rent out spare rooms. Outstanding loans/Credit record - if you have other loans, this may reduce the amount of money you can borrow. Keep credit cards and personal loans paid on time. Missed repayments could affect the amount you can borrow for your mort-gage and also your credit history. Savings Having a regular savings ac-count in which to save your deposit is important. The bank will also take into account if you are paying monthly rent-al payments on a property – it dem-onstrates your ability to support this level of monthly repayments. You should arrange to pay your rent through your bank account – even if you are living at home and making a contribution to the household. Day-to-day finances Make sure you manage your accounts so that you don’t go over your credit limit – this shows that you have been able to manage your fi-nances effectively for a period of time before you apply for your mortgage. Lenders will look at any financial commit-ments you have, such as childcare costs. The value of your house - this is the market value, or purchase price of your house. The amount you need to borrow - this is the difference between the amount you have saved to put towards the house (your de-posit), and the purchase price of the house. Additional costs You will need to show how you can cover additional costs such as stamp duty, legal fees, valuation fees and any additional expenses that might arise during your application process. Deposit required First-time buyer If you are a first-time buyer, a 90% limit will apply with a 10% minimum deposit. If there are two parties applying for the mortgage, both must be first-time buy-ers for the mortgage to be considered for these advantages. A Help-to-Buy incen-tive is also available and it is designed to assist first-time buyers with obtaining the deposit required to purchase or self-build a new house or apartment to live in as their home. It provides for a refund of Income Tax and Deposit Interest Reten-tion Tax (DIRT) paid over the previous four tax years to first-time buyers. See the Revenue website for further information. Non-first-time buyersIf you are not a first-time buyer, different rules will apply. A lender may lend up to 80% of the value of the property that you wish to buy. This means you need to have the remaining 20% saved for your depos-it. Banks do have a discretionary option to allow some applicants to apply outside of this criteria. §Toccata House Music School, Drogheda.Lessons Based In Drogheda Grammar School, Mornington Road, Drogheda.Lessons InPiano, Keyboard, Violin, Viola, CelloGuitar - Classical, Acoustic, Bass And ElectricFlute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Recorder, Drums, Speech And Drama, Voice Coaching, Junior And Leaving Cert Music.Private Classes On A One To One BasisTel Olive On 087 2603079 For DetailsEstablished Since 1990.Stamullen, Co. Meathwww.mammydaycare.comCrèche, Montessori & After schoolPhone:01 6905333 Purpose Built Fully Insured Experienced staff Fire Certified Intercom Entry Enclosed safety tiled play area Private car park Nutritious meals cooked in houseCelebrating 10 Happy Years in businesswww.crumbs.eu.com CrumbsCakesForOccasions Call Lee between 9am & 6pm, 087 918 6854STAMULLENDON’T MISS OUT - BOOK EARLY!CBTCounsellingDrogheda19FairSt.,LowcostcounsellingDrogheda0868759816CounsellorPatriciaGavinpatriciagavin@eircom.netLow Cost Counselling19 Fair St.DroghedaFor when you need a helping hand to changePatricia GavinCounsellorpatriciagavin@eircom.net086 8759816HerbalistKatie BlackwellLicensed Medical Herbalist(IAMMH)Ph. 087 142 1245 - LAYTOWN kumon.ieDrogheda North Maths and English Study Centre041 9832547droghedanorth@kumoncentre.ieFees vary. Please refer to your local study centre.Reverend M. RyanWedding Celebrant27 Bettystown Park, BettystownMeath/Louth/Nationwide!Call or Text 083.859.9551Email:therovi ngrev@gmail.comwww.therovingrev.comThe Roving RevYour Wedding, Your Way Bettystown AlterationsWedding Alterations and Evening WearPremises located behind the offices in McDonough Caravan Park on Triton Road (Opposite Tesco) Phone: 086 775 3 776Tues - Sat 10am - 5pm Lunch 1:30pm - 2:30pm Close Tue 2pmClothing Alterations•Wedding/Evening Wear • Leather/Suede Repairs •CurtainsSame Day Service© May 2017 The Meath Coaster38Gormanston CollegeOn the 27th of April Gormanston College organised Wellfest Week. This has become a huge event for the school. The school aims to promote all areas of health and wellbe-ing. Bootcamp was organ-ised for the 4th and 5th years. The ISPCC came to talk to our 3rd years about bullying and cyberbullying. There was a very interesting talk given by Childwatch to our First Years on the dangers of the internet and the informa-tion that is available by tapping into our phones. A mural, themed Nature and Mindfulness was completed during the week. The piece inspiration and participating artists were selected from images submitted by stu-dents. The work will be proudly displayed in the college. The grand unveiling took place at our Wellfest closing assembly. The creativity ex-tended to our music department, when the choir and musi-cians concluded the week on a positive note! Also included in the week was an Inter-cultural Day where we celebrated all the different cultures that attend our school. Students brought in special dishes from their country and stalls were set up in our large study hall. Students prepared a fashion show with students modelling national costume and the girls from 5th and 6th Year present-ed a dance routine to the school. §A particular highlight of the week was our now annual cookery competition- ‘Well-feast’.Transition Year students prepared healthy dishes that were judged by nutri-tional value, food hygiene practices, pres-entation and ultimately taste! This year the event was generously sponsored and judged City North Hotel, Julianstown. City North’s Sales Executive Robbie Tier-nan and Chef Eammon judged the event. First prize went to Killian Twomey. Second to Daniel Morgan and third to Mi-chael Redmond.© May 2017 The Meath Coaster39Anxiety Fears And Phobia’s Are All Related. Part 2 Social phobia and agoraphobia, are known as complex phobias. Linked to a deep-rooted fear or anxiety about certain situations, incidents, or circumstances, which make them much more disabling phobias. Though a fear of birds or dogs for example, may become Agoraphobia as the person is afraid to go outside their door. Social phobias are now called social anxiety disorder. You find being in social situations difficult and unbearable. Parties, weddings, functions, or work cause anxi-ety; there is fear of being embarrassed or humiliated in public. YOU may feel that you will be scrutinized and singled out in the crowd so you avoid social gatherings altogether. Psychologists say a high pro-portion of adults start taking measures to avoid social situations during their teen-age years. Studies show that their progres-sively isolated lifestyles make them more susceptible to developing depression. Agoraphobia You are frightened of finding yourself in situations where there is no escape; fear-ing being stuck in a desperate situation with no help. Agoraphobia may include a dread of traveling on buses or trains or going into large shops or shopping malls. When symptoms are severe, the patient may find stepping out of their own home unbearable. Sufferers have an increased risk of also suffering from panic disorder. As with social phobia, crowded and pub-lic places are avoided. How common are phobias? In industrial nations, phobias are the most common kind of anxiety disorder. They affect people of any age, sex, and socioec-onomic status. A high-er percentage of wom-en suffer from phobias than men. and usually start during childhood, Most common pho-bias Social phobia - fear of being in places with a lot of people Agoraphobia - fear of being somewhere with no support, away from home, open spaces Claustrophobia - fear of being in constricted, confined spaces Aerophobia - fear of flying Arachnophobia - fear of spiders Driving phobia - fear of driving a car Emetophobia - fear of vomiting Eryth-rophobia - fear of blushing Hypochondria - fear of becoming ill Symptoms of phobias When exposed to the source of the fear, there is a sensation of uncontrollable anxi-ety. A feeling that at all costs, the source of that fear must be avoided. The anxi-ety is so overwhelming you are unable to function properly. Though you know your fears are irrational, unreasonable, and ex-aggerated; you are unable to control your feelings. Panic and intense anxiety, which may include: Sweating Abnormal breath-ing (panting, trying to catch your breath) Accelerated heartbeat Trembling Hot flushes chills or A sensation of choking Your life is not worth living. Professional Therapy with me can Change your life. You gain control and for many totally eliminate all symptoms. Write to me today for a FREE Consultation at ber-nicemckenna@hotmail.com Lets remove your anxiety §Next >